Ribbon Cutting at Oak Point Elementary

We try really hard in this family to keep Mike's job very separate from our blog.  He is a superintendent of schools here in our beautiful county and most of the time his job is awesome.  Sometimes it is very difficult. 

Almost five years ago this county started talking about closing an elementary school that was in bad shape, remodeling the primary school, and building a new school.  I remember going to those early meetings about this new plan for our schools when I was pregnant with Hope.  

Today I was a very proud superintendent's wife at the ribbon cutting on the brand new school that will open next week!!!!!  This school is not only beautiful but has come because of a lot of hard work and collaboration from our amazing school board and staff.

Here is a picture of the front entrance of the new Oak Point Elementary School!!

Here is my hubbie welcoming everyone to the ribbon cutting.  I was so excited for him that I almost got a little misty-eyed.  David will be a third grader in this building starting next week and Miss Hope will be a kindergartener next fall.  Somehow through cancer treatment and his normal superintendent duties, he and his staff have continued to plow through this HUGE project and open this new school on time.  I will never understand how he got it all done last year while we were at UVA. 

Many of the students were there to help with one of the ribbon cuttings. 

One of my favorite parts of the building is the staircase as you enter.  It is so beautiful. 

Ms. Powers, a kindergarten teacher, had her room ready!  What an awesome learning environment for children. 

I loved this bulletin board in one of the teacher's rooms - we are nuts about our new school! For the teachers who taught at Kyle's Intermediate School last year they must truly feel like they are in a palace now. 

Here is the full-sized gym with six basketball goals that will be a favorite for David. 

 

Great job to all who were involved in building this beautiful new building for our school.  Today was a wonderful day for our entire county to celebrate the hard work of so many people that were dedicated to improving the facilities for our kids and teachers. 

 

 

Bible School Fun and Finale

Bible School is now over.  It is a long and tiring week for all the workers and the kids, but it is so much fun! Our two youngest LOVED every minute of it...

which you can tell by the fact that they are up front dancing in front of everyone?!  That is a huge milestone for my shy girl.  The music for this bible school was really good and they have been blasting that CD at home all week. 

How cool is it that our church has a movie theatre in it?  This is where I was all week showing a little clip of a DVD each night and then discussing it.  I would also hand out bible verse cards and take up our offering for our mission project.  The kids also use this cool movie room for sunday morning sunday school.  Hope is in the middle of the group-look for the big pink hairbow:)

This picture makes me smile.  Here is Hope with her sweet friend Olivia dancing.  One part of the song they are suppose to give each other a high five and they missed so they are both belly laughing at themselves. 

Since they missed giving each other a high five, they decided to give one to our worship minister Bryan instead.  :)  These girls get to sing with him weekly during preschool!

Last night to celebrate a great week of bible school there was a pool party.  It was only 68 degrees outside but these crazy kids still swam and had a ball.  It has been the coolest summer here in Virginia.  The parents were wrapped up in sweatshirts and towels watching our kids swim last night.  Our youngest did not make it the full two hours and we came home to warm baths:) 

Crazy David!

David was in heaven because two of his favorite people Devin and Jay Mellinger came and swam with him.  These two guys are awesome with huge hearts and David adores them.  He was so cold but I had a hard time pulling him away from his buddies to go home.

What a wonderful week!  Hope and I slept in this morning way past our usual wake up time catching up on our rest from all the bible school fun we have had.  I pray that my kids learned how to Stand Strong for God this week at VBS.

Football Players with Big Hearts

Cancer stinks.  If you have followed this blog for any length of time you know that our David has been through heck and back due to his Stage Four Wilm's Tumor.  We all agree that cancer fights dirty and is a big bully who preys on young helpless kids. 

Also through this journey some amazing things have happened.  We have all been changed by God who frankly rocked our dark world with His awesomeness.  We have been on the receiving end of some amazing kindness, love, prayers, and hugs.  This past weekend I was once again blown away by some big burly football players from our amazing community. 

This past Saturday the Shuler family hosted their fourth annual Fishing for a Cure event at hungry Mother to raise money and awareness of childhood cancer.  Their sweet little girl died of a brain tumor right before turning 14 months old.  At this event many people come forward to shave their head for the St. Baldrick's foundation for childhood cancer. Many members of the Marion Senior Football team got their heads shaved at this event for childhood cancer.

I did not realize it had happened until Saturday night when I was scrolling through facebook.  I noticed several bald heads popping up on my newsfeed and it was not until 10:30 that night that I realized that many team members had shaved their heads for kids with cancer. I cried big crocodile tears that these guys (some of whom had great hair) shaved their heads for this cause.  I was stunned and oh so happy that people are hosting events this like and that people are doing amazing things for cancer kids. 

Tuesday night we took David to the end of one of their practices to get a picture with the new "baldies" and to say thank you from our family.  David loved hanging out with them!

Here is David with Sam Wagner.  Sam and his buddy Logan were the guys that visited him in Charlottesville and took him fishing.  That was such a special day for David and he loves his Sam and Logan. 

Here is David with the players that shaved their heads.  He looks so little next to these big guys with big hearts. 

While taking pictures David got tired and just had to rest a little big on Sam's shoulder.  Oh so sweet. 

David and the team showing off their guns!  David showed up for the photo op with his blue bible school shirt and the guys even found him a Marion football shirt in the locker room to put on for the picture.  He slept in the shirt that night until I pried it off of him the next morning. 

 

Thank you guys for doing this for kids with cancer.  No matter how many games you win this year you are already winners!